'Banned Nazis' spotted at WW2 rally

Three of the “pretend Nazis” in the East Lancashire Railway’s 1940s War Weekend in Bury, Greater Manchester

Angry complaints have been made about men in Nazi uniforms with swastikas seen drinking at bars in Bury.

People taking part in East Lancashire Railway's re-enactment of wartime scenes on Sunday were photographed with Nazi insignia, despite the event's organisers banning the practice.

Whitefield Councillor Michelle Wiseman complained to fellow Bury councillors after receiving a text message from an angry man, who wrote: "At East Lancs Railway in Bury. Full of men dressed as Nazis, disgraceful."

Mrs Wiseman said it was the fifth year she had received a complaint. She said: "It happens every year without fail. People may go into Bury town centre, but do not expect to see people in Nazi uniforms drinking beer outside pubs."

East Lancashire Railway general manager Andy Coward confirmed that his staff had asked a group of actors to remove swastikas on Sunday after complaints from the public.

He said: "If people don't comply with our ban on swastikas, we ask them to remove them, and if they will not, we ask them to leave. The problem is with a tiny minority. I don't know how to persuade people who believe they are accurately representing how a German soldier looked in the 1940s."